


Mizar the Mediocre

by ToothPasteCanyon (DannyFenton123)



Series: Transcendence AU [30]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25258702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DannyFenton123/pseuds/ToothPasteCanyon
Summary: Alcor gets a summons from a strange Mizar. Maybe there's still something to recognise, here.
Series: Transcendence AU [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1472837
Comments: 16
Kudos: 82





	1. Her Light

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to StarlightSystem for beta reading this! Their works are amaaazing and you should totally check them out!! <3

Mizars. Alcor had known so many of them through the ages, and he’d seen that they tended to follow a theme. They were somebody bubbly. Somebody spontaneous. Somebody who stood out from the crowd. He’d seen Mizars who were doctors, lawyers, adventurers, cultists, demon hunters, people who led radically different lives from Mabel… but there was always something to recognise.

And he liked that. 

* * *

You’d think a place nicknamed ‘Sin City’ would get a lot of visits from Alcor, but he’d been to Las Vegas relatively few times. Maybe he just wasn’t the demon that came to mind when one was down on their luck in the casinos… regardless, he was mildly interested to find a summons drawing him there, and he was _very_ surprised when he realised what soul was summoning him.

A Mizar? Huh. Well, he’d better go see what she wanted.

The first thing that caught his eye was the view. They were high up in some sort of hotel room, and the tall windows opened wide to cloudless skies above and the sprawling city below. The carpet was zebra print - it made his eyes vibrate a little - and the two perfectly laid double beds looked like they’d never been touched by a living being, much less slept in. A school bag slumped at the foot of the further one.

Alcor frowned. There were a couple of candles encircling him, but no chalk… and no summoner, it seemed. It didn’t take long to find out where they went; there was a gasp from behind the bed, and he quickly floated over.

“Hello?” Alcor saw his summoner huddled against the bedframe, clutching a metal tray to his chest. “Mizar?”

Mizar was… certainly different this time round. He looked like he was in his forties, balding, dressed in a leopard print dressing gown and pink camo crocs. He squeaked when he saw Alcor floating over him, and cowered under his tray.

“Why aren’t you in your circle?” He pressed himself up against a bedside table. “The website said you were going to stay there!”

Alcor blinked. “Uh… you didn’t draw a binding circle, dude. You didn’t even draw a summoning circle.”

“Don’t blame me! I tried, but it just wasn’t working on the carpet, so I thought I’d wing it, and-”

“You thought you’d wing it? Wing a demon summoning?!” Alcor watched him curl up tighter. He pinched his nose. “Okay, well, I’m here now, and lucky for you, I’m not going to hurt you. What do you want?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Mizar peeked up at him from behind his tray. “You’re not gonna hurt me?”

“No, you got very lucky. You should never summon a demon without a containment plan; other ones wouldn’t hesitate to-”

“Oh, that’s great news!” He popped up and tossed away the tray with a giant grin. “Ashley’s gonna love me for this!”

“Ashley?”

“My daughter! She loves demons - watches that Magical Mizar show of yours all the time. She’s not gonna believe that I got the real Alcor the Dreamlender to show up!”

“She- wait, Dreamlender? It’s Dreambender!”

“Oh, it is?” He tied up his dressing gown. “Huh, guess I misread it. Well, anyway, wait there for a second, will ya?” Then he turned towards the bathroom at the other end of the room and called, “Oh, Ashley! Sweetie? You there?”

There was no reply. The man shot Alcor a nervous smile.

“She, uh, said she wanted some alone time to chat with her friends - but that was a whole fifteen minutes ago, I’m sure she’ll come out any second now! Ashley, darling?”

In the awkward silence that followed, Alcor just stared. This… was Mizar? This was where his sister’s soul had ended up? In this weird older guy whose aura tasted of cheap motel food and desperation?

Okay, maybe he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. This guy was probably cool, somewhere. He cracked a smile.

“So, uh… what’s your name?”

“Hmm? Oh, I suppose I didn’t introduce myself yet!” The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Martin! But you can call me Mart. Mart the Fart. That’s what my ex-wife calls me, it’s, uh… it’s all in good fun!”

“Okay…” Alcor took his hand, and then frowned when Mart put an arm around him. “Are you trying to steal my wallet?”

“Whaaaat? Noooo… I just, uh, I wanted a hug!”

He rolled his eyes at that, but before he got a chance to reply, a scream rang out from the front of the room. Mart jumped up.

“Ashley?”

“Dad, run!” A terrified teenager had flattened herself against the front door; she stabbed a finger at Alcor. “That’s - demon! Oh my stars!”

“What? Oh, Ashley, sweetie, it’s okay! I summoned him!”

“You… _what?”_

“He’s with me, it’s fine!” Mart tried to jump over a bed, but tripped on his robe and fell down the other side. “Ow, uh, yeah! Surprise!”

“Wh- Surprise?!” 

“Cause you like Magical Mizar, right? He’s the Alcor actor!”

Alcor winced at the waves of horror-turning-to-fury coming off of Ashley. He raised a hand. “Uh, just for the record, I’m not planning to hurt anyone. Also I didn’t actually act in Magical-”

“What the fuck, Dad?! You put everyone’s lives in danger just so you could reference some stupid show?”

Mart’s smile froze on his face. “Uh… do you like it?”

Alcor cringed. Bad question. Bad, bad question.

“No!” She snapped. “Absolutely not! I haven’t even watched Magical Mizar since I was, like, six! It’s like you don’t even fucking know me!”

“Sweetie, I-”

“Just leave me alone!”

With that, she slammed the door in his face. Mart stood there for a second, then shot Alcor a nervous smile.

“Uh… teenagers. Wow.” He jabbed his thumb at the door. “You know, she must’ve learned those four letter words at her mother’s place. Which is fine! I just, I didn’t teach her those.” He tried for a chuckle. “Surprising.”

Alcor pursed his lips. “Yep,” he said, in the ensuing silence. “Very surprising.”

* * *

  
  


They ended up watching TV for a little while. Mart sat on the bed and started flicking through channels, and Alcor - seeing no obvious summons in need of his attention - awkwardly floated in the corner of the room.

“Ugh, golf. Bor-ring. Let’s find something exciting, right, Alcor?”

He tried to keep his eyes on the screen, but they kept straying down to the man in the leopard print dressing gown… the Mizar in the leopard print dressing gown.

“Oh, My Strange Curse is on!” Mart pointed to the TV. “You heard of this show, buddy? I saw an episode once where a guy got cursed so that nobody would believe a word he was saying. I thought it was kinda fake, but hey, it’s a fun bit of reality TV!”

“I see.” Alcor stared at the screen, where a guy was talking about how everything he ate randomly turned into Christmas ornaments. “So what do they do in the show? Do they hire cursebreakers to come in and help them?”

“No? They sorta… just talk about how weird their curse is for thirty minutes then say they should do some exercise and eat better. It’s… it’s kinda mean, actually.” He changed the channel. “Let’s watch something else. Ooh, Babyfights!”

Alcor rolled his eyes, but he looked up at the sound of a door creaking open. Ashley was peeking out of the bathroom; her eyebrows raised a little when she caught sight of him floating in the corner of the room, but she didn’t scream again. After a moment, she closed the door behind her, and came walking over to sit on the other bed.

Mart didn’t seem to notice, so he cleared his throat.

“Hi.” He tried for a wave. “Ashley, right?”

“Wh-? Oh, Ashley! Hi, sweetie!”

“Hi, Dad.” Ashley’s eyes flitted over to Alcor. “So, uh, is he just a thing, now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the big, all-powerful demon floating on the ceiling just hanging out with us now, or what?”

“Oh, Alcor?” Mart looked up at him, and shrugged. “I mean, I’m okay with it! The more the merrier, right?”

Ashley didn’t say anything to that. He gave an awkward smile. “I can leave you guys alone if you want.”

She kept staring at him for a second, her eyes dull, her lips turned down, her aura grey and guarded. Finally, she turned away, and looked to the TV.

“Whatever.”

And they sat there, for a little while. Nothing much happened. Mart looked over at Ashley and smiled, but she was looking down at her phone all of a sudden. He went back to flipping through channels.

Alcor twiddled his thumbs. He looked outside, at the great big city just outside this little room. Las Vegas looked strange in the middle of the day; the neon lights were dulled, the concrete bleached by the desert sun. There was barely any green, barely any relief from the greyish-white buildings that stretched all the way to the mountains far in the distance. Without the cover of darkness, the City of Lights just looked… sad. Bland. Out of place.

Boring.

He looked over at Mart and Ashley. “Hey,” he started, and tried for a smile. “So, uh, what do you guys do here, usually?”

“Huh?” Mart looked up and grinned. “Oh, in Vegas? What can’t you do? It’s my favourite place on earth!”

“Dad likes the casinos.”

“Not just the casinos, sweetie.” He cracked a grin. “Though those are pretty good. There’s tons to do here!”

Alcor cocked his head. “Like what?”

“Well, there’s, there’s a restaurant downstairs. Serves really nice food.” Mart pointed at the phone. “You can even get it delivered up here!”

“Dad, I think he was asking about stuff you can do _outside_ the casino.”

“Oh? Oh, yeah, you can do stuff outside too! There’s… um…” he scratched his head. “Oh, there’s like a cool water show every night! I took Ashley there once, it was really pretty, I loved it.”

“It was alright.”

“Yeah!” He grinned at her. “We should do that again sometime!”

“Ehh.”

“No? Oh, that’s okay too.”

Alcor looked over at Ashley. “What do you want to do?”

“Me?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t care. I’ll probably just, I dunno, be here. Why?”

“I was just curious.”

She gave him an odd look at that, but before she could say anything else, Mart suddenly let out a loud laugh.

“Oh, my stars, look at this!”

“What?”

“They’ve got a mini golf tournament on TV!”

Alcor cocked his head. “You like mini golf?”

“Oh, yeah! I used to work at a mini golf course - they even let me sleep in the windmill!” He pointed. “Like one of those! Except it was smaller. And not that clean. And you had to know where to lie, so the nails wouldn’t... the pros always have more of a budget, y’know.”

“I see.” He smiled, despite himself. “So I bet you’re pretty good at it?”

“Am I good? Well, I don’t wanna brag, but I’d say I’m pretty c’est la vie at it.” Mart shot him a grin. “Why’d you ask? You think you can beat me, Mr Dreamputter?”

“He probably can, Dad.” Ashley didn’t look up from her phone. “Don’t start betting stuff.”

“Wha- oh, hah! You know me too well, sweetie. Don’t worry, I _totally_ wouldn’t do anything crazy, like… bet a demon fifty bucks I can beat him in a round of mini golf.” He winked at Alcor. “Unless he wants to make things interesting.”

Just the sight of that sleazy grin made Alcor’s demon instincts go into overdrive. He grit his teeth. “I was thinking it’d be… more of a friendly game.” He managed, resisting the urge to take the easiest deal he’d seen in ages. “What do you two think?”

“Aww. Well, I’m still up for it!” Mart sat up and looked at his daughter. “Ashley, sweetie, you got your phone out. Think you could google where the nearest course is?”

“Mhm.”

* * *

“Alright, just… move stuff around if you need to.” Mart pulled his seat forward to let Alcor in. “Sorry, backseat’s a bit of a mess. I wasn’t expecting a friend!”

A ‘bit of a mess’ was an understatement, Alcor thought as he shoved a mountain of scratch cards into the middle seat. All the legroom was taken up by crumpled hawaiian shirts and neon-coloured jeans; they gave off a faded but still-distinct stench of alcohol. He was almost afraid to move them aside.

“Alright, sweetie, seatbelts! You good back there, Alcor!”

“Yeah?” Alcor pulled a sleeping bag out of the way. “Why do-”

 _“Camping!_ I don’t sleep in my car.”

He blinked. “Uh-”

“Just, heh, wanted to make that clear. I don’t sleep in my car.” He reached over and patted Ashley’s shoulder. “Your old Dad’s doing great for himself, don’t you worry about a thing, uh… mini golf! Yeah! Let’s addios!”

Mart peeled off and took a hard right out of the parking lot, burying Alcor in scratch cards.

“Hey, Ashley! Put on my good tunes, will you?”

“No.”

“Hah, uh, alright! I’ll do it myself.”

A stream of loud pop music filtered into the back seat. Alcor perked up at the voice.

“Is this…?”

“Marcia Sinderson’s greatest hits, volume twenty-one?” Mart turned up the volume. “I found it in a bargain bin a few months back - I don’t even think she was alive when they made half these tracks but I love it!”

The music did contain a lot more _‘whoaaa’_ s than lyrics, but Alcor chuckled when Mart rolled down the window and started singing along. Ashley sank into her chair, groaning.

This was… interesting, he thought. Strange in many, many ways, but somehow… familiar. And he liked that.

He’d missed hanging out with his Mizar.


	2. Her Laugh

There were no rolling green fields to speak of at this golf course. A grey, squat building lounged across the side of a parking lot here. It had a flickering open light, a man smoking by the entrance, and a strangely-painted sign that might’ve indicated it was the place to go for mini golfing if the background and text hadn’t been neon green and neon yellow, respectively.

“We’re here,” Ashley said, and then: “Or maybe not. It looks like it closed ten years ago.”

“Closed? Nah, the open sign’s on!” Mart hopped out of the car. “Race you to the doors, sweetie!”

“What? Dad, I’m not-” She watched him take off running for the building. “Gonna race you…? Okay, cool. Good talk.”

Alcor snorted. She shot him a slight grin.

“My dad’s ridiculous, seriously.”

“Aww, he’s trying.” He watched Mart stumble up to the smoking man, pant a few times, then try and offer a high five. The man walked away fast. “We’d better go get him.”

“Yeah, before he- oh, _stars,_ he’s dancing now. Come on, demon guy.”

A cloud of scratch cards billowed out as Alcor opened the car door. He took a moment to check his face in the mirror before following Ashley - brown eyes? Check. Rounded ears? Yep. Was he missing anything else… Oh, wings! Better stash those away for now.

“Alcor, you coming?”

“Yeah!” He quickly caught up with Ashley as she reached her dad. “Hey, uh, maybe you guys shouldn’t be calling me Alcor, um, in the course. That’s a demon name, might freak people out.”

“I mean, it’s not _exclusively_ a demon name,” Mart said. “I knew a dude called Alcor once. Cool guy. Said his parents were Twin Souls fans - wait, were you in that weird movie about-”

“No!” He snapped. “Okay, we’re doing a fake name-”

“Martin!”

“That’s your name.”

“Yeah buddy, we can be name twins!”

“How about Dee?” Ashley gave him a sly grin. “Last name Mon.”

“Heh, very funny, but-”

“Sam Onion! No, no, how about… I. P. Freely! Hehe, no, seriously…” Mart scratched his goatee as he stared at Alcor’s suit. Then he snapped his fingers and said: “I got it, I got it! _Mr Monopoly!”_

“No. I’m not going in there as Mr Monopoly.”

“Aww.”

“I’ll just stick with Tyrone, okay?” Alcor hesitated. “Or… Dipper. Dipper Pines.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Pines? That sounds kinda familiar-”

“Dipper Pines it is!” Mart reached over and gave him a clap on the back. “Nice to meetcha, my absolutely totally human friend! Now, would you perchance care to ye olde join us in the game of thy most miniature of golfs, good sir?”

“I can ditch the suit if you’re gonna talk like that.”

“Aww, Al- I mean Dipper!” He chuckled. “Caught myself there. Anyway, team, let’s play some mini golf!”

With that, he threw an arm around Dipper and led him in through the front door, and… Dipper couldn’t help but smile at that. The comfort this Mizar already had hanging out with him, the warmth in his voice calling him Dipper… It was nice. Really, really nice.

“Hey, this is a party! What you think of the tunes, Dipper?”

“Oh, my stars, Dad. Don’t dance. Don’t- _Dipper!”_

“Huh?” Dipper blinked, and suddenly registered the raging techno music inside the building. “Oh, this is-”

“This is what the kids listen to, right!” Mart bumped Ashley with his hip. “Come on, Ash, let’s raise the roof!”

“Ohhhh, my stars, I’m not associated with you.” She let out a startled giggle as she hid her face. “Dipper, help. Make him stop.”

“Can’t stop, never gonna- ow, my shoulder.” Mart rubbed it. “Right, not supposed to raise you over my head… what were we doing again? Oh, yeah, mini golf! Where do we start putting?”

“Probably over there.”

Alcor pointed at a desk just off to the side from the entrance. It was a little hard to see but for the neon lights striped across the front. A few sections were flickering, making the whole thing an annoying distraction; it was hard to tear your eyes away and see the lady behind the darkened counter, or the unlit pricing sign above her head. Even Dipper had to squint as they walked over.

“Looks like… seven dollars a head.”

Mart jumped. “Seven dollars? That’s… uh… three and seven…”

“Twenty-one dollars for all of us.”

“Twenty-one dollars!”

“Uh, you okay paying that?” Dipper reached into his own pocket. “I can probably-”

 _“No!_ No no no, I got it! Twenty-one dollars is, uh, nothing to me, seriously!” He popped his dressing gown’s collar and strode on over to the desk. “Let me do the talking. Hi! Hello? Ma’am?”

“Huh?” The lady looked up. “Oh, a customer! Hello, sir, would you like, uh, a day pass?”

“Yes! I’ll have three, thank you!”

“Okay, that’ll be twenty-one dollars.”

“Wow, that’s a real good price! A steal!” With a grin, Mart reached into his wallet and slid a couple bills across the counter. “I can do you one better, though. How about… three dollars?”

The woman just stared at him for a second. Somehow, the pumping music in the background made the silence even more awkward.

“Um… sir, are you trying to haggle with me?”

“Mmmmaybe?”

Uh, well, I’m just here to work the register? So… that’ll be twenty-one dollars?”

Ashley groaned. “Dad, just pay the money.”

“Okay, okay! You drive a hard bargain, ma’am. You’re a strong, independent - I respect you! I respect you so much, I got the money… rrrriiiight…”

Dipper could feel a hand pushing its way into his back pocket. With an eyeroll, he materialised a wallet.

“...ooooooverrrrr- here!” Mart brandished it with a triumphant grin, and popped it open. “There’s - only twenty-one dollars in here?” He looked over to Dipper with an expression of genuine concern, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Dipper… you doing okay, buddy?”

“No, I’m fine, Mart. I’m-” He shot a look at the cashier. “I don’t need money, okay? It’s on me-”

“No, no, I’ll get this-”

“Mart-”

“I insist! I’ll put it on… this card - here you go, ma’am. It’s fine.” He gave Dipper a one-armed hug as he handed his wallet back. “You don’t need to thank me.”

Dipper watched the cashier hesitate for a long moment before swiping Mart’s card. It went through, and she slid it across the counter.

“Uh, alright, then… you’re all good, I guess.” She backed away. “I’ll get your clubs.”

While she disappeared into a store room, Mart turned back to Dipper. “You know, if you ever need a place to stay-”

“Dad, he was trying to tell you. He’s a demon.” Ashley pressed her face into the counter. “You didn’t have to go and make a scene, he probably could have just paid.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay,” Alcor tried for a smile. “It’s, uh, very nice of you to offer, but I have my own place.”

“Really? Where?” Mart’s grin came snaking back. “Does it have a couch someone could theoretically sleep on?”

“Um, sorry Mart, it’s just a field in the Mindscape. It’s got a bunch of sheep in it, that’s kinda it-”

“SHEEP!”

Mart yelled that loud enough to startle the cashier as she came within earshot again. Alcor cocked his head.

“Do you… not like sheep or something?”

“No! I mean, I like ‘em, I wish ‘em well, but they scare me a little, I’ll be honest!” He rubbed his shoulder. “Maybe it was just the ones at that petting zoo I worked at, but they’re mean little fluffballs, I tell you! With sharp hooves, and, well, they’re weighty under all that wool, and- oh, you’re back! Hi, ma’am!”

“Um,” the cashier blinked several times. “I have… your clubs?”

“Ooh! Are you ready, team?” Mart clapped his hands together. “We’re going golfing!”


	3. Her Soul

Mini golf turned out to be surprisingly fun. The three of them spent a couple hours knocking balls down courses and through neon clown heads. Mart turned out to be pretty good at it after all; he’d line up a shot, shoot a wink at his daughter, and putt right into the hole almost every time. Apart from the course where Ashley bet him he couldn’t shoot a ball over the windmill and stood around snickering when it came back down and hit him in the face, he had a great game.

“Looks like I won, Dipper Pines.” Martin waved the score card in his face. “How’s about that fifty dollars, huh?”

Dipper distinctly remembered not taking that bet, but he handed it over nonetheless and took the gloating ride back to the apartment as a form of payment. It was nearly sunset, now; he sat back in his seat, and stared up at the silhouetting skyscrapers as Mart’s words washed over him.

This had been a good day, he thought. A good day with a fun Mizar… why hadn’t he visited this one sooner? Ah, well. As a Mizar like him would probably say, there’s no time like the-

“Stop!  _ Stop!” _

Brakes squealed and Dipper was nearly thrown into the legroom. The next thing he could hear was Ashley’s voice.

“What the hell, Dad! You nearly T-boned that guy!”

“Yeah, sorry, sorry!” Mart turned around in his seat. “Is everyone okay? You okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, no thanks to you! Pay attention to the fucking road, Dad!”

“You’re right. Sorry.” Mart tried to reach a hand out, but drew it back when she glared at him. “Sorry. I was just, I was, I was talking about mini golf, and it was really fun, and we were havin’ a good time… I-I’ll just drive. Keep my eyes straight ahead, right? Where they’re supposed to be, right? Heh…”

No one laughed at that. Dipper sat back as they started moving again, and put his seatbelt on.

As the night set in, the city came alive. Bright lights shone out from every headlight, every storefront, every towering casino with spotlights shooting up to the heavens. Neon was everywhere he looked: neon red flashing arrows, neon yellow strobing signs, neon brands sticking out of every neon neon-soaked building they passed neonically screaming for his attention.

Under their glaring light, the little people passing one another on the street were rendered faceless. The sky, rendered starless. Mart pulled up to the casino, and the great big neon sign above the entrance bathed their car in blood red before plunging them into shadow. On the other side, Mart peered out at the parking lot towards the back of the building.

“Ugh,” he said, and let out a nervous chuckle. “I always forget how dark their, uh, parking is. Guess this is why they want you to let a valet do it.”

Ashley groaned. “Why don’t you ask, then? I thought they were free here.”

“No, that’s the other casino I go to - the, uh, Florencian. They’re not as nice about that here… but hey, as long as they comp my room, they’re pretty nice in my book!” He started grumbling as he turned the wheel. “But a whole sixty dollars just to drive my car into a parking space… nobody told me it wasn’t free here, I would’ve done it myself.”

The car cruised right into the centre of one white line, and Mart turned off the car with a grin.

“See? I’m a great driver! Don’t even need a valet, sweetie - just need these!”

He wiggled his hands, and Ashley stared at him for a second. Without a word, she opened the door and got out of the car.

“Oh, uh… Wait for me! No, really, the parking lot gets kinda sketchy sometimes Ashley, I’d really rather you…?” He watched her disappear behind the bend. “O-okay, I’m coming! I’ll catch up to you!”

Mart left his car and half-jogged after his daughter, leaving Dipper to follow along. He followed them through a lobby still filled with chattering guests and tired clerks, and turned his head to see the casino on their way to the elevator. It was down a few steps and through an archway. Judging by the number of voices emanating from down there, there were a fair number of souls within it.

Dipper couldn’t see them, though. All he could make out was the flashing of slot machines before they passed it by. There was a pat on his shoulder.

“Looking at the real fun, are you?” Mart cracked a grin. “I might go down there tonight. You can come too, if you want!”

Dipper frowned at him, which only made him chuckle.

“What? Aw, c’mon! It’s what you do in Vegas! I won five hundred dollars on the slots once, first try!”

Ashley said something, but it was drowned out in the chatter.

“What was that, sweetie?”

“I said, then you lost it, Dad.” They got into the elevator, and the doors closed shut. “So you didn’t really win anything.”

“Aww, yeah, that happens. Part of the fun, y’know? You win some, you lose so-”

“Mom said you lost two thousand dollars.”

Dipper could hear a pin drop in the silence that stretched between them. The elevator moved up. Music played. Mart shot a glance down at her, and then forced out a laugh.

“That was, uh… she told you that?”

“Not on purpose, if that’s what you’re trying to insinuate.” Ashley glared down at her phone. “It was a loud argument. Maybe because you lost two thousand dollars of her money. All part of the fun, though, isn’t it?”

Dipper glanced sharply at Mart, who wasn’t meeting his eyes. The doors opened, and Mart made a show of ushering everyone through.

“Heh, after you, sweetie!”

She stormed past him without a word.

“Alright, haha… after you, Dipper!”

Dipper didn’t know what to say, so he just stepped off and started following Ashley to their room. Mart slung an arm around him.

“Well, uh, mini golf! That was fun, huh?”

They rounded a corner.

“Yeah, it was pretty fun-”

“And you’re really not down for going down to the casino, huh?”

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “No? You’re still going?”

“Just for a little bit, don’t worry. You can hang out with Ashley - you two’ll have so much fun!”

“You’re asking a demon to babysit your daughter.”

“Babysit? Hah!” Mart clapped his shoulder. “No, she’s a smart girl, she doesn’t need a babysitter. You two can keep each other company, though! Put on some movies, play some games, do whatever you like!”

Dipper smiled a bit at that, but he couldn’t stop looking at Ashley as they followed her down the corridor. “What about, uh, that stuff Ashley said? About you losing two thousand-”

“Oh, there’s our room!” Mart said loudly, then made a show of fumbling in his pockets. “Ashley, sweetie, you got my keys, don’t you? Why don’t you just go inside?”

She stared at him for a second.

“Go on! You wanna order room service? I know it’s about your dinner time - go look at the menu!”

No reply. After another moment of uncomfortable silence, she unlocked the door, swung it open, and slammed it behind her. Mart flinched a bit at that, but turned back to Dipper with a wide, wide smile. He put another hand on Dipper’s shoulder.

“Buddy…” he started. “So, uh, alright, you’re good here?”

“What? No, I asked you about-”

“The money thing. Look, that was a mistake, that was years ago. I’m sorry if it got kind of awkward in the elevator, but there’s nothing to worry about, seriously.”

Dipper peered at Mart’s aura. Something in his omniscience was needling him.

“So we good?”

“That was…” Dipper frowned. “That wasn’t years ago. It happened nine months ago.”

“Jeez, it isn’t even a year yet?” He watched Dipper’s frown deepen. “No, I wasn’t trying to lie or anything, I just - huh! It feels like it was longer.” He started scratching his beard. “Well, I guess the divorce was in August. Then I was… y’know, sleeping in cars, doing odd jobs… I guess that really makes you lose track of time, you know what I mean?”

Dipper shifted uncomfortably. “No, uh, not really. I’m… sorry to hear about-”

“Yeah. You know, the casinos are super nice - if you do a bit of gambling, they’ll sometimes just give you a room for free! It’s crazy!” He chuckled, and put his hands in his pockets. “That’s really the only reason I go anymore; y’know, I save up those offers for weekends with Ashley. Just so we’ll have somewhere nice to stay, you know? So it’s really all for her.”

“Oh… I guess that doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Nah, it’s not bad. See, you get me.” Mart pulled him into a squeezing hug. “You’re the best buddy ever, Dipper Pines.”

At that, he snorted. “You’ve only known me for a few hours.”

“...Well, I suppose I have. Huh. I guess I just have no sense of time today, heh.” He pulled back, his grin softening into something more wistful. “I guess you just - you give off these sorta old friend vibes, you know what I mean? It really does feel like I’ve known you forever.”

Dipper stared down at that gentle smile, those twinkling eyes, that wonderful soul nestled within him… and he found himself smiling right back.

“I know what you mean,” he said, and Mart pulled him into another hug. Through all the things that were different, through the beard scratching against his suit and the funky smell of that leopard print dressing gown… this felt so achingly familiar. He  _ missed  _ this.

Dipper wanted to hold on longer, but it was only a short hug. Then Mart pulled back, gave him one last grin, then shot off finger guns as he backed away down the corridor.

“Right, buddy, we’ll hang out later! Have a nice time while I, uh… figure out which way the elevator is! Man, walking backwards is hard!”

“It’s on your right.”

“My right or your right- ohh, you said my right! You’re way ahead of me! Alright, to the casinoooo!”

He chuckled as Mart backed into a wall and awkwardly shuffled out of sight. Yep, that man was definitely a Mizar.

…

What was he doing again? Oh, yeah, watching Ashley!

The door was locked when he tried it, so he checked for cameras before phasing through. Mart’s suite was darker now than when they left it; most of the light came from the glow of the city from the far window, and from the glare of a phone screen off Ashley’s face as she sat on her bed. She frowned when he flipped a switch.

Dipper waved. Ashley didn’t respond. He cleared his throat. She didn’t look up.

“Uh… hey,” Dipper started. “So your Dad’s, uh, gonna be gone for a bit tonight…”

He paused there, but she didn’t have anything to say to that.

“...so it looks like it’s just you and me! You want to do anything? Put on a movie? Play board games?”

She reached into her pocket, and brought out a pair of earbuds.

“I’ve got any game in the world if you wanted… wanted to… oh, you’re, uh, putting those in.” Dipper watched her stick them in her ears without casting him so much as a glance. “Want to be left alone? That’s okay too! I’ll… do my own thing, I guess.”

He stood in the doorway for a moment, twitching his wings as he looked around the room for something to do. His eyes fell upon the TV mounted to the wall; he floated over.

“Hey, where’s the…” he started, but trailed off. To his surprise, Ashley pointed to the remote sitting on the end of the second bed. “Oh… oh! Thanks.”

“Not much on this late,” she said. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Oh. Any requests?”

“I just told you there’s not much on.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry…” Dipper shied away to the ceiling. “I’ll just see what’s on.”

He turned on the TV, and was instantly greeted by one of those strange commercials that only played after nine. He assumed it was advertising some kind of car, but all the women in bikinis made him roll his eyes and change the channel. It switched onto a medicine advert, and then a food advert, and then it dropped him right in the middle of an intense fight scene where a man got knifed across the cheek and put an hand over the blood and yelled out, “You  _ fucking bi-” _

Dipper gasped and scrambled to shut it off. He was met with a loud snort; Ashley was snickering into her chest, and he gave a nervous smile.

“Yeah, that was, uh, funny.” He discreetly floated the remote back to its position on the bed. “I guess it’s too late for Magical Mizar to be on, huh?”

She just kept snickering away, and he felt his cheeks redden a little. How long was Mart gonna be gone for, again? He cast his mind down the stairs and found him gushing about Ashley to a poker table; it seemed like he was having a good time.

Maybe he should find something else to do.

Dipper summoned a little flame, flicking it between his fingers as he thought. Just to the left of him was the window, and the city that shone out from it. It was impossible to ignore he was in Vegas; the whole room seemed to lead his eye out to the Strip, forced him to focus on the beautiful lights and the beautiful lights only. And there was beauty, in the beautiful lights. There was a luxury, an excitement lent to being here, a rush to seeing all those blinding lights laid out beneath his feet. It was like he was on top of the world… and all else was black. All else was hidden. The lights were beautiful.

Someone said something.

…

“Alcor?”

“Huh?” He looked up at the name, then over at Ashley, who was still looking at her phone. “Oh, do you need something?”

“No. I said, you don’t need to babysit me if you’re bored.”

“Oh, I’m not bored, don’t worry!”

“You’re just staring out of a window, dude.” She tapped her screen. “I’m not a little kid, you can leave if you want.”

“No, it’s okay, you shouldn’t be on your own the whole night. Mart wanted me to stay here until he gets back.”

Ashley finally looked up at him. She raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“He did not say that.”

Dipper frowned. “Well, he didn’t say that explicitly, but I’m sure that’s what he meant.”

“Oh, really.”

“Yeah! So don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

To that, she rolled her eyes and looked back down at her phone. That seemed to be the end of the conversation, but then she paused, made a face, and looked back up at him.

“Is it like a demon thing?”

Dipper blinked. “Is what a demon thing?”

“Did my dad, like, make a deal so you gotta stay here, or-”

“No, no, no! We didn’t make a deal or anything-”

“Then why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

Ashley made a face. “I mean, I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but, uh, you’re a demon, right?”

“I am.” He twitched his wings, and sighed. “Yeah, I get what you’re asking. I know it probably seems a little… weird, that I hung out with you guys all day without a deal.”

She didn’t say anything to that. He continued.

“It’s just… you know, it was fun! With Mart, it was fun!”

“Okay?” Ashley snorted. “I didn’t know Alcor the Dreambender liked mini golf that much.”

“Heh, I mean, I didn’t mind what we were doing.” He gave a little smile. “It was nice to catch up with Mart, though.”

“Catch up?”

“Huh?”

Ashley sat up. “‘Catch up’ with Mart? Do you know my dad, or something?”

He froze.  _ Oh. _ This might be a little difficult to explain.

“Have you guys met before?”

“Uh… no? I mean kind of, but I haven’t met your dad before, like your dad the person! I, uh…” He watched Ashley’s face as it morphed into a confused frown. “I know… I know his soul.”

“His soul?”

“Yeah! He’s, uh… Mizar.”

Silence. For a moment, Ashley just stared. She looked he’d told her Mart came from outer space. Her jaw had actually dropped, and her eyes were bugged out. He cringed.

“Yeah, uh, I know that’s kind of… kind of a lot to take in, but-”

“My dad’s Mizar?!”

“Yeah-”

And Ashley  _ laughed. _ She collapsed on the bed, laughing until tears were in her eyes, and Dipper raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

She didn’t respond immediately. He crossed his arms, and found himself wrapping his wings around his sides. Finally, her howling turned into a lighter chuckle.

“Sorry,” Ashley started, wiping her eyes. “You just - that’s got to be a joke. That’s  _ amazing.” _

“What do you mean? Mart is a Mizar, he’s-” Dipper paused when she let out another wheeze. “Why’s that so funny?”

“He - he can’t be Mizar, oh my stars.”

“Why not?”

“Well, he’s-! Well, Mizars are like, legends, you know! Like Mabel Pines, I learned about her in school!” Ashley cackled at the thought. “Oh my stars, you’re telling me my dad is Mabel Pines.”

“Well, no,  _ he’s _ not Mabel Pines-”

“Gee, I hadn’t noticed.”

“But he is a Mizar! Look,” Dipper struggled to explain. “He’s… it’s just… Mizar is just a specific soul, I’m just saying he has her soul-”

“Oh my stars, Magical Mizar!” Ashley wiped the tears from her eyes. “I am never going to watch that show the same way again.”

“Heh, yeah…” He made a face. “Yeah, I know this might be a bit weird. Maybe Mart doesn’t…  _ exactly  _ fit how people think of most Mizars-”

“Understatement of the century.” She saw him open his mouth and cut in: “L-look, look, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, I know Mizar is, like, part of your demon business… but it’s kinda weird that you’re saying  _ my dad _ is part of your demon business. I mean I’m trying to think of him, like, busting cults…” she started cracking up. “I-in his dumb, smelly old dressing gown… a-and his crocs, hahaha!”

“Heh, yeah. That is pretty funny, but, uh… yeah.” He looked away, out of the window. “Mart’s… a special person to me.”

Below Dipper’s feet, a million lights twinkled like stars in the sky. A smile graced his face.

“He’s always been special,” he said, quietly. “Every time I meet her, she’s always special, in some way. Always finds some way to surprise me, you know?”

“...uh, sure?” A pause. “Alcor?”

After a moment, he tore his eyes away from the lights. They took a moment to adjust and focus back on Ashley. “Yes?”

She was giving him an odd look. She opened her mouth, took a breath… then closed it. Offered only a shrug.

“Nevermind,” she said, and reached over to the phone on the bedside table. “I’m gonna order dinner.”

“Okay.” Dipper watched her pick up a plastic menu. “Let me know if you need anything.”

She grunted in response to that. After a moment of silence, his eyes drifted down. They settled on the baseboard for a moment, then followed the line it made to the left, to the window, then outside.

Outside, where a million beautiful stars twinkled like the shine in Mizar’s eyes. He smiled, wistfully, then sat back in the air, and took in the view.

This sky was full of surprises.


	4. Him

Demons didn’t ‘sleep’ - not in the way humans did. When Ashley turned off the lights and shut her eyes, he watched the colours in her aura fade to a peaceful grey, felt the sharpness of coherent thoughts soften into mindless, pleasant nonsense; into dreams. Humans were so lucky, to dream.

In the absence of such luck, Dipper shut his eyes. It wasn’t really sleep, what he was doing, but there was still a certain peacefulness to it. He found himself paying attention to all the ambient sounds of this little room; the hum of the air conditioner, the creaks of the building, Ashley’s slow breathing… if he really paid attention, he could just about pick up the sounds of the traffic going on far, far below.

It was strange. He didn’t often enjoy being alone with his thoughts, but tonight just… felt right. He could feel a couple summons itching at the back of his mind, but he waved them away. Even if he didn’t have to stay with Ashley, he didn’t want this moment to be over just yet.

If this was sleep, he wanted to dream on a little longer.

…

…?

...It started out as a prick of light, fainter even than the traffic. Dipper opened his eyes, and saw that it wasn’t in this room - it was an aura, bright with fear, heading this way.

It was  _ her _ aura.

_ Mizar. _

Voidbrick spread over his skin, and he blipped to her location without a second thought. He was in an elevator; it was just him and a man in a leopard print dressing gown jabbing a button.

“M̹͕a̠̦͎̫r̢t̘̼̯̱?̣͉̘”

Mart glanced back, then let out a shriek and threw a beer can at him. It missed by a long way and clanged against the far wall.

“Whoa, hey, wait! It’s okay!” Dipper let the void dissipate. “It’s just me!”

He stared at Dipper for a long moment, eyes still wide as saucers. He was swaying a bit from leg to leg; finally, he blinked, and there was a thickness to his voice when he said, “Oh, Dipper. Hi, buddy!”

“Hi, are you ok?”

“Ok? Oh, I’m good! I’m sooooo good!” He chuckled. “You gave me bit’d’va, bit’d’ver scare there, I was like, screaming! Hahaha!”

“Are you drunk?”

He gave a sloppy smile, then shrugged.

“You’re drunk.”

“Only a…” He pinched his fingers together. “Y’know? S’not a crime.”

“I guess not.” The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Dipper caught Mart’s arm as he tried to exit. “This is the wrong floor.”

“It is?”

“You pressed four. We’re on fourteen.”

“Oh… hah, whoops! See, this is why you’ra buddy, you’re always looking out for me!”

Dipper made a face. “Yeah, uh… about that. What happened?”

“What?”

“I sensed a lot of panic in your aura when I, uh…” He noticed Mart’s blank face. “You were down at the casino, right?”

“Sure was!” He grinned proudly… but it quickly started to pale. The panic washed back into his aura, and he looked around the elevator. “I gotta, uh, go to Ashley, where’s Ashley?”

“What happened?”

The second the doors started opening, Mart squeezed himself through them. Dipper followed, a pit growing in his stomach.

“What happened, Ma-”

“Everything’s fine!” Mart stumbled trying to look back at him. “Haha, everything is juuust fine, it’s all good! I can handle this.”

“Handle what? I-”

“Don’t even worry. It’s this door, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Shhhhh.” He turned to Dipper, and smushed a finger into his chin. “Shhhh. Ashley’s, uh, sleeping, isn’t she?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t wake her up. Don’t wake her up. I got this.”

Dipper backed off a little, and watched. Mart fumbled loudly for his keys, jabbed them against the wood several times before getting it in the hole, then shoved open the door and fell flat on his face as it swung violently into the wall. Ashley sat up.

“Hello? Dad?”

“Ow…” Mart stumbled to his feet, tripped on his dressing gown again, and then flopped onto her bed. “Hey Ashley, wanna, uh, get your shoes on, we gotta-”

“What?”

“We gotta go, we gotta…” He patted the wall for a light switch. “Where’s it gone?”

Dipper turned on the lights, revealing Ashley’s bewildered expression.

“Gotta go? Dad, it’s - it’s one in the morning! What do you mean?”

“We gotta go, Ash.” He picked up her school bag. “It’s like - adventure! We’re going on an adventure, it’ll be fun! Come on!”

“I’m not - we can’t just-”

“Come on!”

Ashley opened her mouth… but then she paused. Closed it. The corners of her lips turned down as she watched Mart bring her shoes to her.

“Here you go, sweetie!”

_ “How much did you lose.” _

Her voice was quiet, but it sent shivers down Dipper’s spine. Mart’s smile stretched.

“Uh, so let’s get our shoes on, sweetie-”

“I can’t believe you.” She clenched her fists. “You told Mom you weren’t gonna do this again. You promised her you weren’t going to do the slots this weekend.”

“Well, actually, I was playing cards-”

“I should’ve ratted you out  _ the first fucking night!” _

The room seemed to drop ten degrees. Dipper watched Mart go very, very still. After a second, he tried for a laugh.

“Sweetie, l-look, I didn’t mean to-”

“Shut the  _ fuck up, I don’t fucking care anymore!” _

She drove her feet into her shoes and stormed out of the room. He scrambled after her.

“You forgot your-”

“I don’t care!”

“Ash, I-”

“I don’t care!”

“Ashl-”

“I don’t care just leave me alone!” She slapped his hand away and covered her ears. “I hate you! Just leave me  _ fucking alone!” _

At that, Mart froze, hand poised above her shoulder. He tried for a laugh, then a smile, then drew his arm back and gave her a bizarre thumbs up. She didn’t even look at him.

At that point, Dipper set his jaw. He floated forwards, and grabbed Mart’s arm.

“Huh? Oh, Dipper, I-”

“What’s going on?”

“What?” His smile stretched. “Um, look, I can handle-”

“Why do we have to leave the hotel?”

“Uh, well, I can tell you later-”

“Mart.”

“No, no, seriously, uh…” He gulped. “I’ll tell you once we get out of the hotel, okay? Promise.”

_ Promise. _ Ashley refused to stand next to him when they piled in the elevator. He glanced her way and tried for a grin.

“Hey, uh, Ashley-”

“Are we going to your car?” She crossed her arms. “You’re drunk, you can’t even drive.”

“Oh, uh… huh. Didn’t think that through.”

“You never do, do you?”

His smile crumpled at that. Dipper quickly cut in:

“Uh, I can drive.”

“You can drive? I mean, see, he can drive!” Mart patted his back too hard. “Perfect plan! Everything’s going to be, uh, a-ok, Ash!”

The elevators dinged. The doors opened into the lobby. She immediately walked out; Mart hung behind a second, glancing both ways before hurrying towards the entrance. Dipper frowned, and followed close behind.

Through the crowds.

Past the casino.

Out of the light, and into the darkness. Mart was only a shadowy figure in the parking lot; Dipper could make him out mainly by the fear pulsing in his aura. He put a hand on his shoulder, and felt him tense.

“Where are we going?” He asked. Mart let out a laugh.

“Haha, just to the car! You need my keys-”

“No. Where are we going, Mart? It’s one in the morning.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, there’s-” He unlocked the car.  _ “Tons _ of motels, uh, open this late! We’ll have a new room before you can blink, don’t you even worry!”

“But why did we have to leave this one?” Dipper watched him open a door for Ashley; she walked around to the other side. “Mart?”

For a moment, he just stood there. He didn’t say anything.

“Mart, why-”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, okay!” He snapped, then took a breath. “Sorry. That was, uh, loud of me. Haha.”

Dipper watched him chuckle a bit; it sounded empty. Mart shook his head, and then ran his hands through his hair, and then he spoke again.

“L-look, I usually don’t go crazy in the casino or anything. I’ve gotten really good at that! I have, like, a couple dollars, and if I lose it I lose it, you know?” He wrung his hands. “I went in there with your fifty dollars, and I doubled it! Played again, doubled it again! It was going amazing!”

Dipper made a face. “And then?”

“Well... you get the picture, you don’t have to make me say it.” He sighed. “Look, I know I messed up, just… help me get Ashley somewhere safe for tonight, okay? Please?”

“Do you need a deal? I could find you guys a place-”

“No no no, I can find a motel real easy. I’ll fix this, you just gotta drive.”

Dipper frowned, but that was when Mart ducked into the car. He sat down next to him, in the driver’s seat, and Mart handed him some keys.

“Take a left when you’re pulling out… no, a right. Yeah.” He turned around and grinned at Ashley. “I know a great place, don’t you even worry. They’ve got a pool!”

She didn’t say a word to that. Dipper cleared his throat, started the car, and pulled out. Next to him, Mart was tapping his fingers on the window.

“Yeah, a pool,” he repeated, and then made a face. “Hmm… I could call ahead, see if they’re open - they’ll definitely be open, but it’d be good to, uh, call!”

“Why don’t you do that, then.”

Ashley’s tone was biting. Mart gave a nervous chuckle, and patted his pockets. “Y-yeah! Where’s my, um, phone?”

“I don’t know. Did you stick it in a slot machine when you ran out of money?”

“Oh, haha, uh, good one, Ash.” He opened the glove compartment. “I didn’t do that… they don’t let you do that.”

“Oh no, what a  _ tragedy.” _

Dipper loudly cleared his throat. “Uh, which way do I turn, guys!”

“Hmm? Oh… you can go straight on the next two! Then turn right on the third one, I think.” Mart patted his pockets for the last time, then let out a sigh. “Huh, I just can’t find my phone! Ashley, could you-”

“Whatever you’re asking, the answer is no.”

Silence. They drove on, past red lights, blinding streetlights, and whatever cars were still on the road at this time. Through the mirrors, Dipper could see the towering casino receding into the distance… and Ashley’s death glare in the harsh light of her phone. He tried to keep his eyes on the road.

They turned right, into a darkened street. Mart pointed at something.

“Oh… I think that’s it! That’s the motel, but… huh.” He made a face. “Looks like the lights are off?”

“Wow. What a mystery.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “It couldn’t  _ possibly  _ be because it’s one in the morning and they’re closed, right?”

“Ashley-”

“I’m just saying you don’t need to act so fucking suprised about it, Dad.”

Mart didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he opened the door. “I’ll uh, just see if they’re really closed. There’s still a chance, you know!”

“I bet that’s what you say at the slots too.”

Dipper watched him jump out of the car and shuffle towards the building. He glanced back at Ashley, who was still on her phone. Almost as if she felt his eyes on her, she looked up and shot him a death glare.

“What?”

“Are you… okay?”

“I’m fine. Why do you care?” She crossed her arms. “What, am I being too mean to your special little Mizar friend?”

Outside, Mart had reached the building. He pressed his eyes up to the darkened glass, and knocked. Then knocked again. Then knocked again. Glanced back at the car, then knocked again. Ashley shook her head.

“Nobody thinks I’m serious when I say he always does this. Mom says I shouldn’t be so hard on him, but I’m sorry, this is fucking pathetic.” She watched him nearly slip and catch himself on the door. “Every weekend with him, it’s always dragging me to fucking Vegas so he can go play the slots and pretend he ‘took me somewhere real cool’. Yeah, sure, we watch TV together in the mornings while you get over your hangover. Really fucking cool.”

Mart finally stepped back from the door. He was heading back to the car; Ashley finally looked down at her phone.

“All I’m saying is, this never happens with Mom. It’s almost like she actually…”

Ashley stopped, abruptly. Her glare deepened. She swallowed hard.

“She… well, whatever. I don’t care.” She shot Dipper a furious glare. “Are you gonna stop staring at me, already?”

He turned his face to the front. Through the rear view mirror, he watched Ashley as she quickly wiped something off her face.

Then Mart opened the door. He shot Dipper a grin, and he… didn’t know how to return it.

“Seems like they’re closed.” Mart said. “It’s okay, there’s still loads of motels ‘round here! Why don’t we try… Oh, there’s one just up north! I don’t think I’m banned from that one anymore; if I am, they won’t recognise me, heh. That was way back in my wilder days, when I still had my hair.”

He chuckled at that, but no one joined in. Dipper turned the car around, and headed back to the main road.

“Alriight! This isn’t so bad!” Mart turned around in his seat. “How we holding up back there, Ash?”

Ashley didn’t reply.

“Sweetie? How we holding…” He noticed Dipper tapping his shoulder. “Huh? What’s up?”

“She, uh, might want some space right now, Mart.” He kept his eyes straight ahead. “Where do I turn?”

Silence fell as they drove around the city, from motel to motel. The clock on the dashboard was clearly a few hours off - it read seven o’clock - but Dipper watched the minutes tick up, watched Mart knock on door after door, watched Ashley slump lower and lower in her seat. She hadn’t said anything for ages now, and when Mart returned from the latest locked up motel, he pointed at something on the display.

“Oop. Gas light.” He tried for a laugh. “That’s, uh, not good.”

“We need to go to a gas station, or-”

“No, no, it’s fine, it’s…” He rifled through his pockets. “It’s… I’ll just…”

Dipper frowned. “I can buy gas.”

“No, I can fix this! We can, uh…”

Mart fell silent for a long moment. He looked through the glove compartment, then checked under his seat, then went back to the glove compartment. His aura radiated a growing desperation; Dipper sighed, glanced back at Ashley’s tired face, then-

“Oh, no, you know what? I’ve got it!” Mart flashed a grin at him. “Just turn off the engine.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “Okay… but what are we going to do when we get moving again?”

“Oh, we don’t need to do that. You know, motels are overrated; who even thought of ‘paying money to sleep’? That’s a scam, if you ask me.”

Dipper blinked. He glanced around the darkened parking lot, then back at Mart’s big grin. He had to be missing something, here.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean, is we can do a little, uh, ‘urban camping’! We park here for the next few hours, get some of that sleep in, and… well, that’s what we can do! What do we say, team?”

There was silence, for a moment. Ashley looked up from her phone.

“You want us to sleep in a car?”

“Yeah, it’s not so bad!” He reached back and dug through his clothes. “Here, I got a sleeping bag just for you, sweetie!”

“But… I don’t want to sleep in your car! I thought we were going to a motel!”

“Well, uh, I mean, what’s the difference between a motel and a car anyway? Don’t worry, sweetie-”

“A motel has walls! And a bed! And it’s not out in some… sketchy parking lot!” Ashley shook her head. “Is this even legal? What if something happens?”

“Nothing’s gonna-”

“I don’t want to sleep in your stupid car, Dad! I want to sleep in an actual bed! Why can’t we sleep in an actual bed!”

Dipper nudged Mart. “Hey, I don’t think this is a good idea. Maybe we should-”

“No, no, it’s totally safe! I do it all the time, and I’m fine!” He reached an arm out to Ashley. “Look, sometimes… stuff happens, you know? You win some, you lose some. You sleep in beds, you sleep in cars. That’s life, right?” He chuckled. “That’s how it works for me, anyway.”

“But I don’t want to sleep in a car, Dad!”

“I know. I know, it’s not ideal, but it’s just one night, okay? I promise, I would never let you spend two nights in a car.”

“But I don’t  _ want _ to!”

Mart’s grin was frozen on his face. “Well… I don’t know what else to say, sweetie. This is the only solution, y’know?” He tried for a smile. “That or, uh, haha, we could sleep on the streets! Would’ya like that more?”

There was silence, for a moment. Then there was one, hiccupping sob that tore through the car. Then another. Dipper’s stomach dropped. Mart blinked.

“Wait, are you crying?”

Ashley furiously shook her head and covered her face, but the tears were already coming.

“Ashley? Sweetie?” He reached out, but she jerked away from him. “No, hey, it’s okay, I wasn’t gonna make you sleep outside. It was just a joke, I promise. Sweetie?”

_ “No… No no no, no no no…” _ She was shaking her head, pressing her face into her knees.  _ “I just want to go home, I just want to go home, I-I just want to g-go home, I…” _

Mart pursed his lips. He tapped his hands on the back rest for a moment, then turned to face the front again. The silence was deafening as Dipper watched him think for a moment, pat his pockets down one more time… then turn to look at him with the last semblance of a grin he could muster up.

“Hmm,” he said, and gave another one of his obnoxious chuckles. “Maybe, uh, we could start looking for motels again?”

Dipper said nothing. He could say nothing. He was at a complete and utter loss for words.

“There’s still a few around, I think. I mean, even if they aren’t open, they might have better parking lots, hah! That’s a good idea. Yeah, that’s a good-”

Alcor couldn’t listen to another second of that voice; he clenched the steering wheel, and Mart suddenly fell silent. He blinked, tried to say something else, then looked over at Alcor with  _ that fucking oblivious expression like he couldn’t possibly imagine he’d done anything wrong- _

Breathe. Breathe. In, and out.

The steering wheel stopped smoking, and he dared to open his mouth.

“N͖͙o͇͕̣.” He said, and watched Ashley look up from the back seat. “Your daughter wants to go home. I’m taking her home. You’re done.”

Mart blinked. “What? No, wait, it’s okay-”

“Yo̫̗u̖̠͇'̜̖̖͖͝re d͓̲͚͢on̪͓͉͟e̻̳̰̰̦͓.” He let the reverb rumble through the vehicle, watched Mart pale a little and shrink back in his chair. Then, he turned to look at Ashley, and spoke softly.

“Where’s home for you?”

She just stared at him, eyes wide as saucers.

“Is it your mother’s house?”

A pause, then a quick nod.

“Okay. I can take you there. Is that what you want?”

Another nod. Ashley sniffed, then croaked out, “I-it’s, u-um, 4155 East W-Witch Way, it’s in the California Isles…”

“Okay, thank you,” Alcor said, although he didn’t need the address. He could already feel where she wanted to go; every fiber in her being was pointing to it like the X on a map, and he closed his eyes. Ignored  _ her _ soul shining too brightly from the front seat - focus on Ashley, now.

In, and out. In, and out. Here, and there.

He opened his eyes to find himself parked in front of an apartment. The porchlight flicked on; it glowed warmly in the darkness, and Mart let out a soft whistle.

“Wow, uh, we’re really here. Sure beats a road trip, doesn’t it, Ash?”

Ashley jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the door. He tried for a chuckle.

“Wow, I better, uh… try and explain this to Ellie.” He rubbed his neck. “She’s not gonna be, um, super happy with me…”

Alcor just stared him down, silently. After a moment he opened the door, and hurried over to Ashley.

They knocked. Lights turned on inside the house. Mart had pressed himself into the wall, covered his face with a hand as footsteps came to the door. A woman in a nightgown opened it,and he let out the quietest “Hey” when she fixed her eyes on him.

“Martin?” She stumbled a little when Ashley latched herself around her waist. “Ashley? What’s going on? It’s two in the morning, is everything okay?”

Alcor couldn’t hear what Mart was saying; he could, however, see clear as day how the concern vanished from Ellie’s face. She hugged Ashley tighter, ushered her indoors… then stepped outside and shut the door  _ hard. _

“Martin…”

“I know. I know. I messed up.”

“Messed up?  _ Messed up? _ You brought her home  _ in tears, _ what the fuck is wrong with you?! I can’t…” A pause. “Have you been drinking?”

“Uh... a little?”

“You didn’t-”

“I didn’t drive, don’t worry. I’d never do that.”

“Oh, that’s a  _ real _ high bar, Mart. I… I don’t even have words right now. How could you do this to Ashley?!”

“I’m sorry.” He watched her turn away. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s not me you need to apologise to. She’s going to remember something like this for the rest of her life - you know that, right?”

“I… I didn’t mean to-”

“Just stop, okay?” She rubbed her eyes. “I just can’t, can’t deal with you right now… I’ll call you in the morning, alright?”

“Uhhh, okay. I mean, okay, sounds good! Thumbs up, haha!”

“You’ve got a place to stay, right-”

_ “Yup! _ Yup yup yup, don’t worry about me, I’ll get out of your hair!” He started backing away. “Bye, lo- uh, t-talk to you in the morning! Tell Ashley, uh…”

There was a pause. Ellie stood there with one hand on the doorknob, staring at him expectantly. After a moment, he only managed a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes and slammed the door in his face, leaving him standing there, utterly alone.

And finally, in that moment, Alcor saw that happy facade of his fade away. His shoulders slumped. His head hung low. He turned, and glanced back at the door one more time before heaving a slow, wistful sigh and shuffling back into his car. Alcor almost didn’t recognise the man who was sitting next to him now; he wasn’t even wearing a ghost of his old smile.

“You can…” Mart started, and made a half-hearted gesture. “You know. Just drive.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere you want.” He sank into his seat. “Doesn’t matter, I guess.”

They pulled out of the apartment complex. Turned onto a silent road. The time on Mart’s clock read seven thirty, but the pitch black skies told a different story. They stopped at a red light, and for a long moment, the hum of the engine was the only sound between them.

Mart cleared his throat. Alcor looked over at him, and he shot back the weakest of grins.

“Uh, so… just the two of us now. Heh, time to hit the town, right?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m… I’m sorry, I just say things. Whatever pops into my, my dumb head, I just say it.”

The light turned green. Alcor accelerated, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

“Like…” Mart cringed. “Like, ‘Hey Ashley, at least we aren’t literally sleeping on the streets!’ Ugh. Why did I say that? Why on Earth did I say that?”

“I don’t know. Why did you say that?”

“What?” He glanced over at Alcor. “Well… that’s what I’m saying, I don’t know! I’m just… I’m dumb sometimes, you know?”

“No you’re not. You have a better answer than that.”

Mart frowned. “Wha- what do you mean?”

“It’s not ‘just because you’re dumb’, because you’re not dumb!” Alcor snapped. “You’re better than this. I know you’re better than this. Stop trying to weasel your way out of this.”

“I’m not trying to-”

“You never apologised to Ashley.” He was driving too fast; with difficulty, he forced himself to stop and pull over. “Not once this whole night. Why didn’t you do that?”

“Whoa, hey, buddy,” Mart tried for a chuckle. “How’d we get to arguing all of a-”

“Why didn’t you apologise?”

“Well, I don’t know, I-”

“I thought you just say  _ whatever _ pops into your head, right?” He bared his teeth. “Or were you not sorry? Is that it?”

“No, no! Of course I was sorry, I-” He paused for a second, at a loss for words. “I don’t know where you’re even going with this!”

“Then let me be very, very clear.” Alcor reached out with void-black claws, grabbed Mart by the front of his shirt, and dragged him in close. “You’d better start thinking through your words very carefully, because I d͏i̡d̴n’t ̸l̴i͞k̶e w͠h͞at ͠I ͜ saw tonight. You’re hurting Ashley, and you don’t want to see what I do to p̡e̪o̬̹̺p̨le̻̮ͅ w̼̥h̻o̝̙̣̖ ͎̮h̟͕̣͚͚̝u̮̜r̝t̶̺̭͔͉̮̦̠ c͡h̹͉ị̧͓̯͕̙̯l̰̙d̝̻̱̞̣̳ͅṛ̺̗̤̞e͈̯̝͔̼̙̠n̳͚͚͓.”

Mart tried to pull away. “I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry! Look, I know, I made a huge mistake-”

“You’re not ļis͡ţ̨͢e̕n͝i͜n̶̨g̶ ̢to me! And you’re not listening to Ashley, either! She hates going to visit you! She doesn’t like Vegas! She thinks you don’t give a shit about her!”

“What? No, that’s not-”

“ **Y̺͔̭͍͙̣̯̻O͍̝̝̤̣͔U̟͉̱͔’̘̩͔̙͚Ṟ̰̞͖̬͈͎̘ͅE͓̘̣͕̲̱̙ ͙̤̭̙S̝T̙̩͉̥̠͉I͙̬̜̗͎L̤̳̟ͅͅL̞̺̬̰̩̥ ̹̱̙̩͕N̹͖̮͕̯̲͎̠O̹͉Ț̭̜̪͎͚̘͔ ̣̜̳̬̱̭̤Ḻ̳̜͇̥̮͚̯̠͜I̳̤̮͈S̶͈͎̩̲̱̝̞͎͢͡T͜҉̻̜̱̤E̵̵̥N̨̰̹͙̳͉͟͟I̩͢͝N͏͖̖̬̟̞̭̥̫̤G̺̟͉̮̬̺͕ ͡҉̪͓̩̼̖̟̭͉T̶͖̯̺̟͕͢O̠̱̱ ͙͘H̦̮̯͈̪E̸̯̖̠͘R̪̺̜̯̦̬̝͓͝͝!̹̦͓** ”

Mart’s mouth clamped shut. He froze in place, and stayed rigid when Alcor shook him.

“W̖̯͚̪͕͙̖͠ͅe͏̡̗͕͕̱̱͍̳͟l̨̥̯̦͖ͅl̮̤ͅ?”

He just stared past Alcor, mouth open a little, eyes wide, stricken. Finally, he swallowed once, and, in the faintest whisper:

“She really thinks I don’t care about her?”

Alcor growled, and released his grip on Mart. The man dropped back into his seat like a ragdoll.

“But… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… I  _ do _ care about her. I love her so much.”

“You have an interesting way of showing it.”

Mart swallowed again, hard. He turned to look up at Alcor. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You know.”

“I don’t. Please, I-I don’t know how to fix this-”

“Yes, you do.” Alcor turned away. “I told you. I know you’re better than this. You’ve always been better at this than me.”

He stared forwards, out into the starless night. He could hear Mart sit up in his chair, could hear him hesitate, then lean forwards.

“Uh… buddy?” A pause. “C-can I still call you buddy, or-”

“What do you want?”

“Well, um, look, I’m no demon expert or anything, but… you guys usually don’t just hang around a guy for a whole day, right?”

“It’s not common.”

“So… why’d you do it?”

“I think you know why.”

Alcor couldn’t see Mart’s face, but he could see the shift in his aura as the answer came to mind. After a moment, he spoke.

“...Because of me,” he said. “You… know me somehow, right?”

Alcor’s lips curved upwards. “I told you. You’re not dumb.”

“Have we met before?”

“Oh, we’ve met before.” He sat back in the chair. “We’ve met thousands of times across thousands of ages. We’ve met in every corner of the globe, and when humanity leaves this Earth, we’ll meet on every planet in every star system in every galaxy of our universe.” He looked over, and met those shining eyes. “We have met before, Mizar.”

Alcor watched a certain shiver pass through him. Almost unconsciously, a hand reached up to cover his heart.

“Mizar?”

“That’s you.” He paused. “Or, well, that’s not quite true. It’s your soul.”

“So… you know my soul?”

“Your soul, and so many of the faces you’ve worn.” Alcor chuckled. “So many wonderful, wildly different faces… but, you know, you’re always someone special. The first face I knew, she was my sister. Mabel Pines. You’ve probably heard of her.”

“Huh… does ring a bell. She was in my history textbooks or something, way back when.”

“She was wonderful.” He felt a lump building in his throat. “And when she was… gone, there was Carmen. There was Belle. There was Mira, Maddie, Lane, Noie… B-Bentley, Fang, there was…”

He couldn’t say any more. Couldn’t bear to. He had to breathe, in, and out, until words came again.

“There were so many. So many, I couldn’t name them all. And they were all such… amazing people… and they’re gone now. They’re gone forever.”

That hung in the air for a moment, hung between them. Mart gave a grim smile.

“And then there’s me, right.”

“...Yes. And then, there’s you.” Alcor felt his hands tightening on the steering wheel again, and he sighed. “Look, I don’t… I don’t think you’re an awful person. I wouldn’t be telling you this if I thought you really didn’t care, but… I gave you a lot of leeway because of your soul. I overlooked things I shouldn’t. And that’s not your fault, but… I’m not going to go out of my way for you like this again.” He made a face. “I gave you a lot of freebies today. Doesn’t feel good when you’re a demon.”

“Oh… sorry, buddy.”

“It’s fine. I’m just letting you know, I can’t keep bailing you out of situations like that. Not without asking for a lot in return.”

“Okay.”

“And Mart?”

“Yeah?”

Alcor turned, and fixed him with a glare. “If I see you’ve gotten  _ Ashley _ into trouble again, your soul isn’t going to save you. Is that clear?”

He gulped. “Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s… totally fair.”

“Good.”

“What do you, uh, do to people who… Uh, nevermind. Yeah, nevermind.” He chuckled nervously, and rubbed his neck. “So, um… good talk!”

“I hope so. What are you going to do now?”

“Me? I’m probably gonna… catch some sleep, I guess. Try and find my phone so I can call Ellie, and...” He made a face. “Figure out what I’m gonna say to her. And Ashley, too. Yeah.”

“Are you sleeping here?”

“Yeah… uh, I only got one sleeping bag, but you can take that if you want! I’ll fall asleep anywhere, I don’t need it.”

“No.” Dipper frowned at him. “You know what, one second, let me get us into a motel room or something.”

“I thought they were all closed?”

“Yeah, but I can get us in.” Dipper gave a slight grin. “Being a demon has its perks.”

Mart made a face. “But wait, didn’t you just say that demon stuff needs deals and all that?”

“Then this is the last freebie.” He raised an eyebrow at Mart’s expression. “What, you think I’m gonna bend the rules to pay off a bet I didn’t make but not to make sure you can sleep in a bed? Nobody deserves a night on the streets, man.”

“No, no, I don’t want you hurting yourself over me-”

“It’s not hurting, it’s hard to explain. It’s fine. I’ll make it back in summons, don’t worry.”

Mart didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah… look, I’ll tell you what.” Dipper stuck out his hand. “You promise me you’ll start listening to Ashley, and I’ll find you a room for tonight.”

His hand gently pulsed with blue flame, and Mart whistled. “Oh, yeah, I promise… that’s a hell of a magic trick, buddy.”

“You’re supposed to shake.”

“Won’t it hurt me? I tell you, I tried to high five a dude who’s hand was on fire once, it was  _ not _ a good time.”

“Wh… when did you…?”

“One word. High school. Wait, is that two words?”

Dipper chuckled, and let the flames die down. “You can shake, Mart. It’s safe.”

“Alright.” He reached out and clasped Dipper’s hand. His skin felt rough, but warm, and there was a genuine smile on his face. “Thanks, buddy. I mean it.”

“I hope you do.”

* * *

There was a pattern over the weeks as to who summoned Dipper. Monday to Thursday, he got a fair number of demonologists, summoning him in highly secure labs for their research. Friday seemed to be a popular time for cultist meetings, both for harmless ones… and those less so. Saturday, he spent a lot of time lecturing bored kids, and Sunday was the Dreamer’s Star.

Ugh, the Dreamer’s Star. Don’t get him wrong, he liked the offerings, and he  _ definitely _ preferred them to most other cults… but had their ceremonies always been this excruciatingly wordy? Right now, he was standing behind some dude in a fancy robe addressing a whole room - and speaking like he was, too.

“O, mighty Dreambender!” The man called out, right into Dipper’s eardrums. “We humbly bring thee our finest offerings so that we may be blessed! Let us list the offerings, so that our devotion shall be proven…”

_ No, don’t list them out-  _ ugh. He tried his best to not look bored as the man brought out a literal list of items. See, the Circle always complained that he didn’t show up enough for meetings, but how many of these was he realistically supposed to attend?

“And now we shall name those that contributed such offerings, so that they shall be recognised before our Lord-”

Oh  _ stars, _ someone get him out of this already. He started checking through all the other calls he was getting today; there were a  _ ton  _ of other Circle gatherings, great, and- oh!

“...we name Gregory Smitt, and we name-”

“Hey!” Dipper quickly cut in, then cleared his throat. “I have, ahem, pressing duties to attend to. You must excuse me.”

“Oh.” The man looked disappointed. “What duties are these, my Lord?”

“They’re… important… duties. Yeah.” He looked out into the crowd, and gave an awkward smile. “Um, thanks! For all the stuff! Bye!”

Then he quickly blipped himself away, back to somewhere a little more familiar. He arrived in a tiny room with a mattress on the floor and an open box of clothes next to it, and looked around for a second before-

“I GOT THE JOB!”

“Y-” Dipper barely opened his mouth before Mart tackled him to the floor. “Whoa!”

“I got the job! I can’t believe it!” Mart squeezed him tight; he was wearing a suit, and the tie flopped in his face. “I have to tell you ALL about it, buddy, it was amazing!”

“That’s great, Mart! I’m really happy for you! Can, uh, you let me up, first?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure!” He let go of Alcor, then tried to get to his feet. “Can you give me a hand? My knee doesn’t like it when I do this.”

Dipper reached out a hand, and pulled him up. He grinned at Mart. “Now tell me about the interview.”

“Yeah! We talked for a little and then she just offered me the job on the spot! That’s never happened to me before!” He chuckled. “She did say it was because she really needed someone for tomorrow, and I was the only guy who showed up with a shirt on… but hey, you were right! The suit really does make a difference!”

“I’m really glad, Mart. It looks good on you.”

“Yeah, and I’m taking it off now.” He unclipped his tie. “This whole get-up’s way too hot and itchy; how do you do it every day, dude?”

“Eh, it’s less itchy when they’re just constructions of your mind.” He watched Mart take off his shirt, and floated towards the door. “Anyway, that’s awesome! I’m, uh, gonna go to the living room.”

“Oh, yeah, go put something on! I’ll be out in one second!”

Dipper phased through the wall to the living room. It was also tiny; the room was split between a narrow tiled kitchen and a patch of carpet with a TV, a box doubling as a coffee table and a lumpy grey couch Mart had picked up from a street corner (“It says ‘no bedbugs’, Dipper, it’s perfectly fine!”)

He gave a halfhearted glance around the place for a remote, then shrugged and turned it on with his mind. Perching on the armrest of the suspicious couch, he flipped through programs until he found the pre-Transcendence channel playing… aww, an old black-and-white movie. That was the problem with ‘pre-Transcendence’ stuff; he was only around for twelve years of it, so there was a lot of stuff from way before he was born being lumped in with his Ducktective reruns.

Dipper rolled his eyes, and sank back into the couch. It wasn’t much better, he thought, when they were playing the stuff he did know. Maybe it was always going to be a little surreal to see his favourite movies being played on an ancient history channel.

A phone rang from Mart’s bedroom. He glanced that way, and then looked down. There was a pile of cards and a half-melted candle on top of the box. He picked the cards up, tried to shuffle them into a neat stack, and the candle rolled off. The box opened a little, and he found himself looking inside.

Much like all the other boxes Mart had, it seemed there were just a lot of knick-knacks. Dipper honestly didn’t know how he fit half this stuff in his car, or why he’d kept it - who packs up a pile of empty soda cans? He couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked them over… oh, they’re, like, the special holiday cans that get released on Christmas. That sort of made sense.

There were also a couple pictures here. There was one that had been smushed into the side of the box; he gently unfolded the creases, and saw it was of a younger woman sitting on a windmill at a mini golf course. She was laughing, genuinely laughing, and Dipper felt a little twinge in his chest.

There was another photo, one with a cheap paper frame around it bearing the name and brand of a restaurant. The same woman was there - Ellie, most likely - along with a much younger Mart. He was clean-shaven, wearing a t-shirt with some sort of joke on it, sitting beside Ellie with one arm around her. She was giving him bunny ears.

These were sweet photos… and Dipper felt a little weird looking through them. A few other photos had been squashed by other stuff in the box, so he took the time to pick those out, unfold them, put them neatly back in the pile, and then closed the box back up.

He looked back at the bedroom again, and then picked up the playing cards. He split them in two, shuffled them together, split them in two, shuffled them together… waited for Mart to come out.

Eventually, he did. The door swung open, and Mart came out in his leopard print dressing gown, phone up to his ear.

“Yeah, I- Yeah, I start Monday.” He shot Dipper a grin as he walked up to the couch. “Yes, this Monday. I did check… Yeah, haha, that’s why I remembered to check! Not making that mistake again!”

There was a pause, and Dipper could hear someone talking on the other end. Mart mouthed something to him; he had no idea what it was, but he gave a thumbs up and Mart winked back.

“Yeah, I totally get that. No, yeah, I’ve kinda worked a payment plan for it, so as long as I stick to that I don’t think I’ll need… no, I  _ have _ worked out a payment plan, sorry. That ‘kinda’ just kinda slips in there, heh.”

Dipper looked down at the cards. He shuffled them together, and then split them in two.

“No, I’ll definitely, I’ll definitely make sure I stick to it. Yeah. Thanks, I… really appreciate it.” Mart fiddled with the collar of his dressing gown. “So, uh, how’s everything been? How’s Ashley?”

A pause. His smile stretched.

“Oh, that’s cool! Did you see her up there? Aww, that’s great, I hope she had fun! That’s great, yeah.” He nodded, and sighed. “Yeah, I get that. I do. And... no pressure to her, okay? She can take as much time as she needs. I’ll be here. I’ll be… here.”

His shoulders drooped, but he gave a chuckle. He nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, thanks for calling, I really do appreciate it. You have a good day, Ellie. I will.” He hesitated. “And, uh, tell Ashley I love her? If you get the chance… Yeah. Tell her I love her, and I’m still really, really sorry about what I did last month. Yeah. I know. Of course… Alright, I’ll let you go now. Have a nice day - again, heh. Bye.”

The phone clicked off, and Dipper watched Mart just stand there for a moment, facing the wall, still holding it to his ear. Slowly, he lowered his arm. Gave a long, deep sigh. Stared at the TV, then traced his eyes back over to Dipper, and smiled.

“Whatcha, whatcha watching, buddy?”

Dipper shrugged. “Nothing much. You can change it if you like.”

“Alright!” He flopped himself down on the couch and started patting around for the remote. “Sorry I, uh, left you for a sec! I just got off the phone with Ellie!”

“I heard. How did that go?”

“Pretty good, pretty good!” He lifted up a cushion. “We just talked for a little while. Told her about my job, and she was real happy for me about that!”

“That’s good!”

“Wanted to, heh, make sure I knew what day I was starting. She’s good like that, always makes sure I know what’s going on… always made sure I knew.” He stuck his hand between the seats, and grinned as he drew out a remote. “Oh, hey, here you are! A bit sticky… huh. Well, I’m sure it’s fine.”

He started flipping through channels. Dipper sat back a little in the air.

“And then, uh,” Mart continued. “Ashley played in a concert on Friday!”

“She plays an instrument?”

“Yeah, she’s played the clarinet since fifth grade! She’s so good at it.”

“That’s awesome!”

“It is. I love going to see her up there, I bet she had fun.” He looked down. His smile stayed frozen on his face. “I bet she had fun.”

It was quiet, then. The TV chattered away, staving off total silence, but something still hung in the air between them. He sighed, and set the remote down.

“Wish I could’ve been there.”

Dipper tried for a smile. “There’ll be other concerts?”

“Yeah… how many of them is she gonna want me at, though? She doesn’t even want to talk to me, and I keep telling Ellie I’m sorry, and I  _ am _ sorry, but…” He gave a shrug. “I dunno if she believes me. Feels like… she thinks I’m just saying it so she’ll stop being mad at me, you know?”

“Yeah…” Dipper struggled to find something to say. “Well… it’s only been a month, right? Sometimes it takes a bit.”

“I guess. I just… I dunno. You’re right. It just takes time, I guess.”

They sat there for another moment, still, quiet, thinking, reflecting. Eventually, Mart cleared his throat, and shot Dipper something like a smile.

“Welp… that’s something to bring to the shrink, right?” He chuckled. “I’ll stop moping at you, buddy. Let’s see... how ‘bout we go do something else? Something fun!”

“Yeah? What have you got in mind?”

“I got just the place.” Mart grinned, and the starry shine in his eye was as bright as it was familiar. “You up for a round of mini golf?”


End file.
